This is my sweet niece. In case you couldn’t tell, this one is full of life and spunk.
She runs, not walks, everywhere she goes.
If this girl wants to give you a hug, she gets a running start that ends in a full-on tackle. Every bite of cake is taken down with the intensity of a first birthday cake-smash. She doesn’t flitter daintily around. In fact, she’s often referred to as a “bull in a china shop”. If she’s passing through, you’ll know it.
She’s going to leave her mark.
I hope that never stops. Sure, she’s a little harder to parent. Yes, there are a lot of expensive things to replace. Of course, there are eye rolls from other parents. Naturally, other girls won’t always understand her. All of that?
It will be worth it.
They just don’t see who she’s becoming. She’s breaking the mold. She’s celebrating a life of freedom, being exactly who she is. She doesn’t know yet, that the world is expecting her to get in line. She hasn’t experienced the pressure she’ll feel to try to soften her edges. She doesn’t yet know that she’ll have to choose between fitting in and continuing to be who she really is.
But I do.
I was “Crystal the Pistol”. I’m quite sure the stories of destruction left in my path are vast. I was wild and rebellious as a little girl. I knew how to leave my mark. And from what I remember, I didn’t have a care in the world about trying to change that.
Until I became an adult.
After my flight attendant years, when I was ready to get a real job with substantial income, I learned to reel it in. I figured out how to smooth over my “rough edges” and pin back those fly-aways. I practiced fitting in and showing up the way I was expected to. From the outside, it might have looked like I was finally growing up and “maturing”.
But on the inside, I was dying.
All the while, I was making great money and building a great network, I was losing my fire. I was conforming. I was forgetting who I was.
Until the day I remembered.
There was one day, one very specific day, I remembered that I was born to be different. I remembered, I was meant for more. My life changed forever that day, even though I couldn’t see it at the time. It started a journey for me to find my pistol again.
And everyday, I find it a little bit more.
I’m determined to only follow, only read, only fill my mind, with stories and instruction from people who are daring to leave their mark. And I’ve devoted my work to encouraging you to re-discover, or maybe discover for the first time, what it can look like to embrace leaving your mark too.
Please don’t soften your edges.
Don’t lose your fire. Don’t pin back your fly-aways. Don’t get in line. Please, don’t get in line. We need you to stand out.
We need you to leave your mark.
And we can do it, together.
to more love,
Crystal
P.S. If your fire is dim and your edges are smooth, if you’ve been “adulting” too long. Our GNO’s are totally for you. The whole purpose is to become a safe place to fan your flame and to do it, together. Come check it out.
